Tag Archives: Nita Whitaker

Despite being the greatest Tinseltown pitchman of all time, Don LaFontaine, who immortalized the phrase “in a world where…,” was denied a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame – and it has his widow seeing Technicolor red.

“Don wanted to be known as the small-town guy who made it good,” says Nita.

In an interview on BlogTalkRadio’s World Talk Live!, Nita Whitaker tells host Brett Cohen that she and her husband – who passed away Sept. 1 at the age of 68 – applied last year to have his name immortalized on the walk, but were told to hit the road.

“We got denied. I guess that’s par for the course,” she shrugs, while in the same breath vowing to right the snub.

“Now we’re really pushing to get a star,” says Nita. “We’re trying to gather as many people as possible to say, This should have happened. Why hasn’t this happened?

“We really want to push for that, not just for his legacy [but] for our children, so they can say, Wow, look at what my dad was able to accomplish.”

A sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, the Walk of Fame was designed by artist Oliver Weismuller in 1953 to give the movie capital of the world a “face lift.” Its first star was awarded in 1960, to actress Joanne Woodward.

Last year, Don posed in his home studio next to a look-alike Walk of Fame star given to him by Nita.

The walk is currently embedded with more than 2,000 five-pointed stars featuring the names of both human celebs and fictional characters honored by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for their contributions to the entertainment industry.

In order for a celeb to get a star on the walk, he or she must agree to attend a presentation ceremony within five years of selection, and pay a $25,000 fee to the Hollywood Historic Trust.

To hear more about Nita’s campaign to land Don a star, and her recollections of the voice-over great, click here.